Flamberge: Flames and Blades
Remembrance of a Sharp Past Erza Scarlet, S-Class Mage of , and fabled Titania, was currently walking through the city of , the capital of the Magic Council. She had just finished a rather simple mission that caused great irritation within her. Apparently, there had been multiple battle between the Vulcans and Lizardmen within the area around the capital and both factions of creatures were endangering the lives of the people with the capital. Erza was specifically request regarding this job, due to her recent show of skill during the Grand Magic Games, especially her incredible feat of defeating 100 monster single-handedly. However, judging by her facial expression, Erza seemed incredibly displeased about having to be within the town. "This was a great waste of time that I could have been using for more important things" Erza lamented to herself as she walked along the stone path, maneuvering her way around people and stands. Being within Era brought some bad memories, especially concerning the Magic Council. Her eyes soften as a fond memory regarding the town resurfaced; when her pink-haired comrade came in and tried to save her from a trail, despite all of it being a farce. She could still see him wearing that hilarious costume and his attempt to get the council to believe that he was her. Erza stopped in the middle of the street and looked up at the sky. "Natsu.... I hope that where you are, that you are safe and that Lucy has come close to or has found you. So you can come home to us." Erza whispered, as she could feel tears swell up in her eyes. She shook her head, shaking the tears away. She was becoming too emotional within a public area and it certainly wouldn't look good for Fairy Tail, if one of their S-Class Mages suddenly burst into tears in the middle of a street for no apparent reason. Erza continued down the street looking for a bakery, hopping to purchase some cake to calm her nerves. ---- Outside of the city where the road leading to the entrance into town was, there showed to be two individuals walking towards the town, accompanied by what appeared to be a shadow that disappeared and reappeared in a different spot as they got closer to the city. The male showed to have tanned skin and was muscularly toned as he also appeared to have a bright white scarf wrapped around his neck, showing it to have what appeared to be a scale pattern to it. The female next to him was a blond-haired girl who was very amble and very attractive as she showed to have a whip at her side as well as a large pouch that was around her left thigh as it jingled with each step she took. The two eventually made their way to the entrance of the city as the male looked around, awed at the size and magnitude of the people inside as the female next to him chuckled a bit at his child-like wonder. "Wow, this place is amazing, how did I never know about this place Lucy?" He asked turning to her as she looked back at the people. "To be honest Natsu, I've never been here either. You came here back when I was still a new member, one of our friends was put to trial here, and in your own way, tried to help her by dressing up as her and trying to take the fall for it" She replied as he looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "Are you serious? I actually did that, yikes...." "The worst part: It wasn't even a serious charge, the magic council caught her as an act to show people how strong their influence was, or at least that's how the master said it". She looked back on Natsu only to see him white as a ghost as he groaned loudly, mentally calling himself an idiot for doing something that ridiculous, and not even recognize it. Lucy laughed as Natsu began to join her as the two went forward to go towards the building of the magic council to see if there was anything that could trigger Natsu's memory, leaving the squawking creature to lurk in the shadows as it waited for them to return. ---- Erza was sitting within a cake shop, her standard armor replaced with her standard white blouse and blue skirt, waiting for cake that she had ordered. She let out a sigh for what seemed like the thousandth time in the past ten minutes. "I don't know why but I feel rather anxious all of the sudden. Could it be something is going to happen?" Erza mumbled aloud, unknowing of the strange looks that she was currently receiving from the other costumers from around her within the shop. Letting out a sigh, Erza stole a glance out the window and what saw her shocked her; just barely, she was able to make out a tuff of salmon-colored hair, the exact same shade as Natsu's hair. "Could it be..." Erza questioned as she quickly jumped out of her seat, ignoring the cry of the baker who just brought out the cake she ordered and the people in front of her as she pushed and practically threw them out of her way in attempt get to the person with same color hair as her comrade. "Natsu, I swear if it is you then you have a lot of explaining to do!" She said with great determination and hope burning in her eyes, as she followed the salmon-colored hair to a place that she was incredibly familiar with; the Magic Council Building. ---- Natsu and Lucy found themselves walking up what appeared to be a pathway that was leading up towards the small mountain in the middle of the town as it felt like forever since they started the climb. Natsu took a swig of his canteen as he passed it towards Lucy, who was showing to be sweating quite a bit. "Man, how the hell did I even make it up here the first time?" He wondered as Lucy finished her drink and put it back into her bag, looking back at Natsu. "Who knows, I swear this is like 100 times worse than anything you ever put me through, and trust me, there was a lot of stuff. However, if my hunch is correct, visiting some of your old places where you were could help in regaining some parts of your memory" She said to Natsu as he nodded in agreement. The duo finally made their way up towards the hill, viewing the incredibly large building that covered them in it's shadows, making them both sigh in relief that they finally made their way to the top. However, Natsu's enhanced hearing heard the sounds of yelling people and breaking as he wondered what was causing a commotion. However, an aura suddenly emerged from the path as it suddenly caused Natsu to sweat. What... what is this.... My body's shaking and sweating.... What the hell? The only other thing that could make me do this was the tribe leader, don't tell me.... Natsu thought in his mind as he turned around slowly to see the aura begin to grow more and more intense the closer it got to the top. The source of the frightening aura emerged in the form of a enraged Erza Scarlet, her magic being unleashed in a wisp of crimson energy around her entire body, as she walked up the path towards Natsu and Lucy. "So, it is you....Natsu." Erza said in a calm voice. Despite the how calm her voice was, even a deaf man could tell that she was practically ready to rip a person if half with her own bare hands. "Just where have you been and...is that Lucy with you?" Erza asked, her tone still eerily calm that would cause any normal person to instantly break down in tears, begging for their life. "Erza! Oh wow, it's been too long!" Lucy said running towards her friend before giving her a big hug as Natsu quickly snapped out of his trance to look back at the woman Lucy was hugging. In his mind, something triggered as he could almost see instances of his memory, but only showing blurs as the sounds of yelling and hitting could be heard as it made Natsu shiver slightly. "Uh Lucy... not to be rude or anything, but who exactly is she?" He said as Lucy looked back, seeing the sweat that was dripping down as she was surprised that seeing Erza didn't trigger any memories. Erza focused her sight back on Natsu, her glare intensifying once more. "Natsu, this is not the time to be playing games. Come back to Fairy Tail, we've all been really worried about you for months." "I'm afraid it isn't a game Erza, even seeing me didn't bring back his memories, the thing that attacked him really did a number on his mind, he doesn't recognize anyone from the guild. We're trying to see if revisiting some of the places we went to, but so far, nothing has been working" Lucy said as Natsu nodded. Erza looked back at Lucy in shock and slight sadness. "Are you serious? No, you wouldn't make a joke regarding something so serious Lucy." Erza muttered aloud. There had to be someway to get Natsu regain his memories. Perhaps she could...yes, that could work indeed. "Alright, I think have a way to get Natsu to regain his memories." Erza revealed as she inwardly smirking at her plan. "Really? Do you think it will work?" Natsu asked with enthusiasm as he smiled at her. "Knowing our usual luck, we might have to end up making some payments...." Lucy said in a hushed tone as she looked back towards her two friends, hoping that neither of them wouldn't die from whatever Erza had in store for them. In a brilliant burst of light, a standard silver sword appeared infront of Erza before she quickly grabbed it and pointed it directly at Natsu. "To bring back your memories, we shall fight each other. That usually how you solve your problems anyways." Erza proclaimed. The irony of the situation was not lost on her; before, Natsu would be the one challenging her to fights and now, she was the one who was challenging him. "Wait what?! Forget what I said, I'm sure he'll be fine once we get to the next location!" Lucy laughed nervously as she knew that any kind of fight that would involve Natsu would only be cause for destruction and half the town being destroyed. However, what happened next not only shocked Lucy, but made her miss the old Natsu even more. "Alright, the other two Fairy Tail members I met thought it would be an interesting chance to see my new skills, but not here since this is the magic council building. We do it outside in the middle of an open plain, at least we won't be able to do any serious damage" He said as both Lucy and Erza were shocked by his reply. "Your memory loss is greater than I expected....Its even caused a shift in your personality." Erza mumbled to herself before she regained her composure. "Still, you are right. We don't need to put innocents in harms way. How foolish of me to be so forgetful. Please hit me!" Erza cried aloud. Natsu sweat dropped as he looked to Lucy for some kind of answer to this, only to see her shrug and chuckle nervously as looked back at Erza. "Uh... no biggie hehe...." He said as they begain making their way to a new destination to fight. Burning Field of a Thousand Blades Erza dragged both the amnesic Natsu and the confused Lucy out of Era, despite the latter's cries of her to let him go. "Now if I remember correctly, there should be a open area around here. Ah, there it is." Erza said as she moved to a nice and beautiful field that had no trees or other obstacles nearby. Such a great sight. It was a shame that this entire field was going to be on fire and filled with many swords, not in that order. She plopped Natsu and Lucy on the ground and walked off. "So, are you ready to fight? I actually thought that we could take a bath together as a way to regain your memories just now." "Uh... let's not and say we did, besides I'm pretty sure being naked isn't the answer" He said chuckling nervously before he got up and began stretching, after hearing the incredible achievements that Lucy told him about Fairy Tail, he couldn't take any chances at getting sloppy. "Lucy, find a good spot to keep out of this fight, I don't want you getting hurt". Lucy looked at Natsu with a sad smile, in her heart she was glad that he still thought of her safety, but she knew it was mostly due to the recent development between them, not the time they shared before. She looked at Erza and nodded before making her way to a safe distance as she prepared herself against anything that might be thrown at her. "Erza, I'm going to give you some fair warning, I'm sure before I lost myself I was kind of a hot-head. However, the time I spent learning about myself gave me time to harness and gain incredible new power unlike anything I've had before" He said in a confident tone as he looked at her with an expression that she never thought she'd see: a warrior's look to fight. Erza let a smile spread across her face and said. "Well, I guess I'll have to take you as serious as I possibly can, now won't I?" Erza's body began to glow brilliantly as her clothing changed to a red and orange dragon-themed armor; the Fire Empress Armor. Holding out her left hand, a sword appeared within her grasp in a flash of light; the sword seemed to be out of place, being more aquatic-based in appearance unlike the dragon-like armor. "Since you don't remember well, I'll shall give you a quick crash course. As you see, this armor that I am wearing grants me the ability to resist fire...." Erza stated before she held up the marine-themed sword. "However, this sword belongs to a completely different set of armor and allows me to utilize Water Magic." "An impressive starting point. However you should really be asking yourself "what did I learn since my time away" because like I said before, I'm not the same Natsu I once was." He said cracking his knuckles as the magic energy started to build up inside of his body, allowing him to control and focus it as he began to enhance his natural abilities before he smiled, running towards Erza to begin their dual as she went running towards him as well. Erza quickly noted the great increase in Natsu's speed, slightly surprised but still kept her cool. She kicked of the ground, launching herself into the air, and swiped her sword across the air in a slashing motion, unleashing a horde of swift blades of air pressure towards Natsu at incredible speed. Natsu stopped as he could hear the air pressure going towards him at high speeds, but it didn't falter him as he smiled and charged his hands with his magic energy, hardening his arms as he put up his guard, which resulted in the blades hitting their mark but not damaging his body. He then brought his arms down before propelling himself upward at an incredible speed, focusing his magic to deliver a strong punch right into Erza's chest. Erza, while surprised at the ineffectiveness of her Sword Pressure technique, was still able grab Natsu's incoming punch just in time, letting out a small grunt at the unexpected power behind the attack. Truly, how much did he change in the past months? What exactly had he been doing? Not bother to think to long on it, Erza tightened her grip on Natsu's fist and made an attempt to slash towards him, the aquatic blade having a small trail of water following behind it. Natsu's attempted to block the attack, while he managed to keep the blade from cutting him, the added water power pushed him downward as he slammed down into the ground, but didn't show to be too faltered by it as he smiled. "I must admit, you are quite a powerful opponent, it's no wonder my old self apparently wanted to fight you. However, my new self isn't ready to give up so easily" He said smiling before focusing his fire underneath his feet, adding more speed to him when he jumped towards Erza. It almost made him appear to be a blur as he attempted a fast roundhouse kick right to her left side. Erza manuevered her left arm in the way of the incoming roundhouse kick and was able to block it, though she still received some significant damage to her arm. "Ugh, you've certainly improved Natsu. However, I'm just getting started!" Erza pointed her sword at Natsu and unleashed a high-pressure blast of water towards her opponent, intending on knocking him away and gaining some distance between them. Natsu's quick response allowed him to block the initial impact, but he was sent towards the floor as he slammed down on the ground, taking some small damage as he quickly broke apart the water before jumping into his feet to better be ready. Knowing he needed cover to do what he was planning, Natsu punched down into the ground, causing it to unearth several slabs of stone as he smiled before release a pent-up shock-wave of energy that was enough to propel them upward towards Erza. Erza looked down and saw the incoming earth projectiles heading her way. Deciding quickly, her body glowed brilliantly before she appeared in a new form of armor, angelic and silver. " !" Erza cried as two new swords appeared in her hands, replacing the aquatic sword, and she pointed them towards the incoming projectile. "Come forth, my swords!" Suddenly, a myriad of swords appeared from a magic seal in front of Erza and rained through the sky, piercing the slabs of earth and throwing them off course. The rest of the swords continued on their path towards their master's foe, Natsu. "Just what I was hoping for..." Natsu said with a grin that was all too familiar to the girl as he took in a large breath, much larger than he originally could as he charged his magic energy inside of himself, calling upon flames that he absorbed before release them all in one burst. "Fire Dragon's Roar!!!" The jet-like flames went so intensely that some patch of grass around Natsu caught on fire as it rocketed towards both Erza and the swords that were flying towards Natsu himself. Erza gritted her teeth at the sight of the familar spell and reacted quickly, redirecting herself to the ground befow as she barely missed being hit with the intense flames though the same could not be said for the swords she just summoned. Gliding across above the ground, Erza mentally summoned a large number of swords behind her as she charged towards Natsu and prepared to preform a forward thrust at his midsection. "Strike, my swords! !" Erza called out. Natsu's reflexes kicked in as he used his fire to surround his fists, managing to hit some back or dodged the others as he continued running forward, despite a few landing a couple of scratches as he rushed forward to Erza, charging his fire into both his fists as he attempted to do a rising uppercut punch right when he got in front of her. Erza was unable to react to the sudden punch and was sent flying in the air, spinning like a pinwheel. Regaining her bearings, she righted herself up and floated in the air for a moment. "Natsu has certainly improved greatly. Greater speed and reflexes, incredible strength, and he's more intune with his magic than ever. I need to try and get him to make a mistake." Erza deduced as she began to think up a quick plan. Finally coming to something, Erza maneuvered her sword in a delta formation, unleashing a towards Natsu and charged forward behind the projectile, switching into a . Natsu cancelled his flames from his fist as he saw Erza's plan, and began to focus his magic as it suddenly came out in what appeared to be scale-like patterns that emerged over Natsu as he took the delta attack, but managed to disrupt it as the blades scattered, but found himself sent flying by Erza's attack before he regained his composure as it didn't show to have too much affect on him. Erza, seeing that Natsu was covered in flames, requipped the aquatic blade that she used earlier and made a slashing motion with the blade, sending out a crescent-shaped projectile of water towards Natsu, with the purpose of dousing the flames. The water landed it's mark on Natsu's chest as he was pushed back a bit, but the water quickly evaporate on contact, making the attack less than effective as the scales were much more heated than Erza originally thought. "Fire Dragon Scales, trick I picked up while I was training, good for defense and water stopping" He said before dashing towards Erza as his leg showed to be covered in the same scales that covered his body, attempting to deliver a scorching blow. Erza moved the flat side of the blade, using it as a makeshift shield to defend herself from the fire-enhanced attack. She held out her left hand, keeping her right one focused on making sure Natsu's attack did not get through, and requipped a spear that was sparking violently electricity, thrusting into towards Natsu's stomach. Natsu's hands blocked the spears thrust, but the electricity surged through his body as Natsu could feel some of the damage done to him even with the scales, but used this as an opportunity to deliver his counter by drawing in air and release his roar at close range. Erza could do nothing as she was assulted by the blast of raging flames, pushing back and sending her crashing into the ground. Groaning but ignoring the pain that the burns were giving, she stood up and once again changed armors, shifting into a silver armor that had orange and yellow material draped on the shoulders and waist. " !" Erza cried out as her lightning spear and water sword was replaced with a pair of simple swords. Acting swiftly, she pointed both of her sabers at Natsu and unleashed a brilliant burst of energy, intending on blasting her opponent to smithereens. The Fire Dragon Scales took most of the attack, but disappeared as he was sent slamming into one of the tree's as he pried himself out of it, looking back to Erza. "Alright, gotta admit, that one did some damage, but I'm just getting started! I'm all fired up!" Natsu said out of the blue as he charged his Iron Fist spell to both fists, causing them to burn brightly as he went towards Erza in a zig-zag formation to try and outmaneuver her. Erza kept her eyes on Natsu, easily tracking him as she replaced her twin swords with the lightning spear once more, pointing it directly towards the ground. "Electromagnetic Murder!" Erza cried out as a massive burst of electricity was unleashed from the spear and creeping towards Natsu at an incredibly fast rate. Natsu jumped upward to avoid the attack before slamming his fist hard into the ground, causing the ground to shatter and have multiple earth pieces go upward as Natsu used his other fist to send them flying directly towards Erza. Planting the spear with the ground, Erza focused and manipulated the lightning to take the shape of a barrier, defending her from the deadly earth projectiles. After the last rock hit, she canceled out the barrier and pointed the spear towards Natsu, unleashing a swift bolt of lightning. Natsu didn't move his spot as he grounded himself, taking in a deep breath as the lightning landed it's mark, but didn't show to affect Natsu as it stated to fluxuate by him using his own magic energy to create a rupture within himself, resulting in the lightning disappearing as Natsu showed to only have smoke eminating from where the attack hit and a big bruise. "Phew, here I was thinking that wouldn't have worked" He said smiling before concentrating the flames around his fists into an orb-shape that he held in place with his hands. However, instead of releasing the energy towards Erza, he harnessed it as it caused his entire body to become engulfed in flames surrounding him. " Fire Dragon Hummer Mode " Right after the flames appeared, Natsu disappeared almost instantly, showing himself to be running even faster than before. Erza, shocked at the new form that, let out a smile. "You always did find new ways to use your Magic. I never imagined you would be able to perform such a feat." Switching to , Erza dashed forward as well, the ground tearing from sheer speed. Moving from one spot to the next, she charged forth, meeting Natsu as she postioned her newly equipped daggers to stab Natsu in the stomach. Natsu's quick reflexes and speed made it possible for him to dodge, but not before it slightly made a small scratch as he ignored it, and went on the offensive with another dual-pair of Iron Fists heading at Erza. Erza, reacting with extreme precision and speed, twisted her body, allowing her to maneuver her body around Natsu's incoming fists and place her behind Natsu. She then equipped her aquatic blade once more and dashed forward with the intention of . Natsu moved to dodged, but managed to get hit a few times as he jumped back, skidding before he let out a more powerful roar that was wide-spread in an attempt to surround or burn her. Moving with celerity and finesse, Erza swung her sword swung her sword at the incoming swarm of intense flames. From the sword, a seeming infinite amount of water was released, a sound mimicking crashing waves could be heard, as it collided with the fire. The ending collision between the fire and water created steam as it gave Natsu the opening he needed as he focused his energy into his two arms, creating a sort of disruptor after recognizing Erza's magic wavelength. He then went forward at high speeds towards Erza's location as he saw her shadow, and attempted to attack. Erza, who was already blinded thanks to the mist, was unable to react to the Natsu's attack as she was sent flying quickly back, out of the gathered mist. Using the momentum that she gained from taking Natsu's attack, she flipped herself and landed on the ground in a crouch, almost like a cat. Erza drew her left arm back and positioned as if she was going to punch the ground. As she did, her left fist glowed and a appeared on her arm, and she punched the ground. The moment she did so, the ground began to crack traveling the cloud of mist and slowly began to open up, like a chasm. Natsu's enhanced hearing allowed him to hear the ground breaking up as he jumped back, but barley managed to escape the traveling crack as he got his foot stuck in an opening, which caused him to trip as he was attempting to remove it before the fog could clear up. Erza, still not seeing Natsu exist the cloud of fog, narrowed her eyes in anticipation. "Well, if he won't come out, I'll just have to make him!" Swinging the aquatic blade, dozen and dozens of water blades, each one intending on slicing whatever happened to be within the cloud of fog. Natsu's hearing caught the sounds of blades that were coming towards as he knew that Erza launched another attack towards her, but knew that there was a way to get to her as he took a few of the blades hitting him, but managed to loosen his foot out before he went moved out of the way of the others ones, only this time he covered himself in flames as he propelled forward towards the direction of the blades were coming from. " Fire Dragon's Claw! " The flames around his feet resulted in what appeared to be a solid dragon-foot shape on both as he kicked the floor to bring up another large slab of rock, which he grabbed and continued forward to Erza. Hearing something flying through the air, Erza focused her sights on the disappearing fog and was able to see Natsu along with the large rock slab which he had within his possession. Thinking she figured out his plan, she dashed forward to meet Natsu, her aquatic blade having a cone of spinning water, similar to a drill. Category:Phantom and Aru